From Town Criers to Bloggers: How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age? #544505-00478

From Town Criers to Bloggers: How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age? #544505-00478

June 8, 2010 10:33pm

Submission Number:

544505-00478

Commenter:

D. Strickland

Organization:

US Citizen

State:

Georgia

Initiative Name:

From Town Criers to Bloggers: How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?

This new FTC document combined with the FCC’s moves to impose a “Fairness Doctrine” pose an ominous threat to free speech that would empower the Obama administration to control the dissemination of information while imposing punitive taxes on ideological opponents. This is a blatant, outright attack on 1st amendment rights and a move by the president's administration to sieze control of the press. Moreover, even as every industry needs a tuneup regularly or even an overhaul, what is the FTC, the FCC, congress and other government agencies doing meddling with journalism? These agencies don’t have a place in reinventing journalism. Please recall: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” This also extrapolates to federal agencies. The FTC release called “Potential Policy Recommendations to Support the Reinvention of Journalism,” is a 47-page bureaucratic plan to infuse government into the information engine which forms the basis for democracy. This working paper mentions some form of the word “tax” 95 times in just 47 pages. If the federal government wants to make the media dependent on it for cash, it must tax (us) to do so. The press is not free if it is "dependent" upon government to exist. Then by nature of dependence the press becomes nationalized and preconditioned to please its master.